A Carbon Footprint in the right direction…

I want to start this blog off by saying we are not a perfectly sustainable family. We are just trying to get there one step at a time. I love reading about people who live off the grid, grow most of their own food and create very little waste. However at this point that is not us. We are a typical family who is trying to adjust and change our ways to be more self sufficient, healthy, reduce costs and our carbon footprint.

For the next few weeks I will attempt to blog daily about one thing we did that day that was sustainable!

 

We are finally composting!

or we will be tomorrow!  We bought a 50 gallon composting ball at Costco today.  My husband was going to make one but considering we still have a lot of other projects that need to be done around the house and garden, purchasing the composter seemed like a good idea.  The best thing about it is Rorie’s total curiosity about what you can compost. 

She wanted to put stuff in it tonight after they finished putting it together but I had already cleaned up the kitchen prior to buying it so I didn’t have anything to put in it.  So I told her she could help shuck the corn tomorrow and we would put green parts in the composter. 

She was so excited she ran to her dad and said “ tomorrow we are going to shuck the corn and put the green stuff in the composter, then we can feed it to our plants, we are making dirt” 

It is a great mini science lesson for Rorie and so great to see her running around the house begging to put things in the composter before bed! 

Update 2 days later: Rorie wants to look in the composter every few hours to see if it has made dirt/soil yet!  She has also started to request snacking items (like bananas) based on the amount of stuff the item will add to her compost bin! 

Cloth Diapers!

While most people are deciding between Pampers and Huggies, I was learning the pros & cons to pre-folds, fitted, pockets, All In Ones and All In Twos. In the end I tried them all! With my daughter pocket diapers (Fuzzi Bunz & Bum Genius) worked best for us, they are easy to put on, kept her feeling dry and had few leaks. Oh and they are so cute, lots of fun colors and prints!

On to baby number 2 and many of my diapers needed some repairs that I couldn’t make (I can’t sew) so I sold them on craigslist (its amazing how much someone will pay for a used diaper!). Then I started over with a new system (that wasn’t available when Rorie was in diapers). I found the GroBaby hybrid to be my favorite system (GroBaby changed its name recently to GroVia).

GroBaby/GroVia: http://www.gro-via.com/

Pros:

Less Laundry!!!!!!!!!

Organic cotton soaker pads (next to baby's skin)

No Leaks!

Soft, water-proof breathable covers

Cute colors and prints

Environmentally friendly disposable inserts are also available!

I won some on Face Book and utilized sales to keep costs down!

Cons

My son takes them off if he’s not wearing shorts

Thanks to GroBaby/GroVia I have been able to continue to cloth diaper my son without the laundry making me insane!

I am writing this because I love GroBaby diapers, I have not received anything from the company for writing this post. I do hope, however that it makes other parents consider cloth diapers for their kids!

Kids Eat Soup

Rorie enjoying her soup through a straw!

Trying to get my kids to eat healthy is a daily challenge. Today for lunch I made egg flower soup.

Basic Recipe: Heat: chicken stock (homemade or box), onions, frozen peas, carrots, grated ginger, salt, pepper. I used grated carrots to make them cook faster. Just before removing from heat add 1/4-1/2 cup of cold water mixed with cornstarch (I used flour today as I was out of corn starch). Remove from heat and add 2+ lightly beaten eggs while stirring. Add soy sauce, salt and pepper when serving. Other yummy additions, tomatoes, other veggies, tofu or cooked chicken.

Rorie who is 3 liked the soup! Leo who is 18 months wanted to be mister independent and would not let me feed him. So I remembered my friend Jian's trick and let the kids use a straw. Ever independent Leo wanted to hold the bowl as well so I put his in a cup with a straw. He loved it and drank it all!

Eating Local:
Chicken stock: I made the stock last week from a local Rocky Chicken (www.petalumapoultry.com) bought at the Davis Food Co-op (www.daviscoop.com).
Carrots/Tomatoes (which I added that evening for my husband and my soup) were from my Farm Fresh to You CSA box. www.farmfreshtoyou.com
Rock Island Eggs: http://www.petalumaeggfarm.com/

One Chicken=5 Meals

I am always looking for ways to stock the freezer with homemade ready to eat meals and the fridge with easy to fix dinners.  So I purchased a whole Rocky chicken at the Davis Food Co-op and had them cut it up for me.

1: Chicken Tacos: I put the breast and thigh meat in the slow cooker for 4 hours with onions, a teeny bit of jalapeño (from our garden), Chile powder and paprika.  At dinner time I shredded the meat and added it to tortillas, cheese, fresh tomatoes, avocado, etc.

2: Chicken Enchiladas: I mixed the chicken, 1 cup of sour cream, 1 cup of salsa, Chile powder and paprika.  Then in a 8 x 8 glass dish lined with foil I layered tortillas, chicken mixture, cheese (repeat layer ending with cheese on top).  I froze this and removed it from the pan the next day wrapped in foil and I will defrost it for a quick meal and bake at 350 for 45-60 min. 

3: Burrito: I had a little enchilada mixture left over so I made a burrito from the same ingredients and froze it (my husband ate it a few days later and said it was really good). 

4: On the same day I made the tacos I took the legs and wings, seasoned them and put them in the fridge for an easy BBQ the next day. 

5: Chicken Stock: I used the back bone of the chicken in a small pot, added onion, carrots, celery, garlic, salt/pepper and enough water to cover ingredients.   This simmered while the tacos were cooking and I used the stock a few days later to make egg flower soup.  (in the future, I will wait for the cooked chicken bones/skin to add more flavor to the stock).